Prime Minister’s Office

Preservation of EU fundamental freedoms is a joint Hungarian-Latvian interest

April 25, 2019 2:14 PM

Deputy State Secretary for the Coordination of EU Policies Pál Schmitt had talks in Riga with Latvian government officials and Members of Parliament about cooperation opportunities in the European Union.

In the debate on the future of the EU, there is agreement between the two countries that competitiveness, convergence, immigration and security are the primary issues.

The Hungarian and Latvian governments share similar views on issues concerning the EU in several other areas as well. They believe that EU grants are not donations, but the concomitants of economic integration and the single market, from which Western European countries equally profit. Following from this, the Baltic State, too, stresses the importance of the preservation of cohesion and agricultural grants during the financial framework between 2021-2027.

The Hungarian government endeavours to closely cooperate with Latvia in the interest of preserving the original values and fundamental pillars of European integration such as the freedom of movement for workers, the EU internal market and the Schengen system.

The two countries agree that these achievements are already in jeopardy due to Western European protectionist interests, while it is the Central and Eastern European Member States that joined the EU later, including Latvia and Hungary, which seek to protect them.

Both countries support the reinforcement of the protection of the EU’s external borders and the halting of uncontrolled immigration, and reject the mandatory quotas.

Regarding the issue of immigration, in addition to Hungary, Latvia is another one of the nine EU Member States which did not support the UN’s global migration compact. The Deputy State Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office informed his negotiating parties in this regard that the Hungarian government has a vested interest in a strong European Union whose institutions do not seek to impose their will upon countries which hold different views on the future of the EU and migration.